Ebay problem -- Sold as working but it's not working... I fixed it!!!

[DaveSimmons]

I use q8 vorbis(~256kbps) for my primary rip. It sounds perfect on my gear, and still allows a recode without losing much quality. It's half the size of flac.

Sure, but 300 GB of space will hold ~1,000 CDs in lossless format. Space is cheap, why go with lossy for your archival storage?

 

[lxskllr]

Sure, but 300 GB of space will hold ~1,000 CDs in lossless format. Space is cheap, why go with lossy for your archival storage?

Good enough is good enough. It sounds perfect to me now, and my ears aren't getting better with age. Theoretical improvements aren't improvements if you can't hear it. I'll take the space, and it becomes reasonable to copy to cell phone/mp3 player without transcoding.

 

[Muse]

A google search for pioneer u2 code gives a lot of hits (just ignore the hits about the remote). Most mention a frayed cable or a dropped /damaged laser as something to look at.

I searched on something like "Pioneer PD-F1007 U2 error" and didn't come up with relevant hits.

Could you paste the URL you get for that search into a reply in this thread? I did a few searches and came up with nothing but U1 error on some fixit site, which I think was irrelevant.

 

[Murloc]

FLAC and Foobar is the only audiophile-approved way, anything else is the wrong way.

 

[Ketchup]

I searched on something like "Pioneer PD-F1007 U2 error" and didn't come up with relevant hits.

Could you paste the URL you get for that search into a reply in this thread? I did a few searches and came up with nothing but U1 error on some fixit site, which I think was irrelevant.

You are being too specific in your search. U2 is a Pioneer error code, not specific to that one model. Back when those were popular every manufacturer had dozens of different CD changer models. Search for what I had in quotes (pioneer u2 code) and you will get more hits.

 

[SithSolo1]

What I found last night is that the U2 error code is a physical malfunction. Either something isn't aligned the way it should be or a part has physically broken.

 

[Muse]

What I found last night is that the U2 error code is a physical malfunction. Either something isn't aligned the way it should be or a part has physically broken.

That's kind of what I figured. I think I'll look again, comparing with my other machine and see if I can find something. But I'm not letting on to ebay or the seller. I won't do further damage, haven't given the machine a whack! I don't think that's smart, but will take a peak. Meantime, I'm going to tell them I'm sending the machine back. If I can't figure out a fix by Friday or so, I'm packing it and sending it, after getting the goahead from Ebay, of course.

I just messaged the seller this:

Well, repairing electronics is beyond my expertise. I don't want to try it, I'm very busy with other responsibilities. I think I should notify ebay about the problem and initiate a return based on the fact that you sold the item as "used," and ebay's policy is that as "used" it should function properly. I don't know whether or not it was in working condition when you boxed it, that's unknowable to me, but it sure doesn't work now.

Then I initiated a return process at ebay:

Reason given (their category):

It's defective or doesn't work

My comments:

I removed item from packaging, plugged it in and turned it on but it would not work from the very start. It will not present the single loading slot and the carousel will not spin so as to accept disks, therefore it is impossible to play any disks. An error code comes up on the screen: U2 All. The item was offered as used but functional, but it arrived not functional.

I'll see how this plays out from here. Hopefully, I'll get a prepaid shipping label.

 

[Muse]

Yay! I fixed it!

I was about to give up, had both units, the one I've had since Jan. 2, 2000 (that works) and the non-working one, side by side on my outdoors patio table in the sun, covers off.

I combed the service manual, got a chocolate fix, a cup of coffee.

I had determined where the gears are that run the carousel. Everything looked the same in both units. A 1/2 hour ago or so I discovered that I could turn the carousel in the good one by hand, which turned the gears. Something was preventing the carousel in the other one from turning (this is all without power, unplugged, both units). It was just jammed tight. I had my every-day-carry mini-flashlight on the highest setting looking everywhere. Finally I determined that something was catching the carousel, keeping it from turning. I'd shaken the unit, turned it upside down, nothing seemed loose in there. Then, 5 minutes ago, I detect that something was jammed into the carousel from the perimeter, almost as if it were designed to do so. I hadn't been able to find anything for "lock" in the service manual, i.e. a mechanism to lock the carousel into place. However, a poke with a long thin screwdriver got the offending gizmo to snap back into place away from the carousel, it appears to work now!!!

I did not expect to be able to fix this thing. I'll make sure it's working before sending the good news to the seller. His response today was to gladly accept the return. I'm going to test it now with some disks, play some music :whiste:

Funny, there's a slight difference between these. The one I bought Jan. 2, 2000 has a front panel jog wheel that's relatively stiff, far stiffer than the one I got from this guy in Florida. Mine rotates the carousel when the door isn't open, his doesn't. Not important differences, I figured maybe firmware on the non-rotation with door closed thing. Otherwise I see absolutely no difference between the two machines. Both say on the back that they were manufactured in September 1998.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Yay! I fixed it!

I was about to give up, had both units, the one I've had since Jan. 2, 2000 (that works) and the non-working one, side by side on my outdoors patio table in the sun, covers off.

I combed the service manual, got a chocolate fix, a cup of coffee.

I had determined where the gears are that run the carousel. Everything looked the same in both units. A 1/2 hour ago or so I discovered that I could turn the carousel in the good one by hand, which turned the gears. Something was preventing the carousel in the other one from turning. It was just jammed tight. I had my every-day-carry mini-flashlight on the highest setting looking everywhere. Finally I determined that something was catching the carousel, keeping it from turning. I'd shaken the unit, turned it upside down, nothing seemed loose in there. Then, 5 minutes ago, I detect that something was jammed into the carousel from the perimeter, almost as if it were designed to do so. I hadn't been able to find anything for "lock" in the service manual, i.e. a mechanism to lock the carousel into place. However, a poke with a long thin screwdriver got the offending gizmo to snap back into place away from the carousel, it appears to work now!!!

I did not expect to be able to fix this thing. I'll make sure it's working before sending the good news to the seller. His response today was to gladly accept the return. I'm going to test it now with some disks, play some music :whiste:

Wow!

Congratulations 301 602 times!

Saves you all the hassle of sending it back, and you now get to enjoy the massive 602 capacity music capabilities.

 

[Ketchup]

Good new indeed! Good job! Wondering if there is a sub-model number on a label somewhere.

I remember wanting those around that time, but man that was a lot of money! I "settled" for a 5-disc changer, which my oldest broke when he was a baby. It would be fun to get in there and fix, but with all my music digitized, I don't see the point.

 

[DrPizza]

Nice!

 

[Charmonium]

Yay! I fixed it!

That's great to hear but you should really think about ripping those CDs. There's always the chance that one of your carousels will malfunction and that would really suck.

Plus there's the delay in loading a cd to the reader, although I'm guessing your unit is fairly quick. There's also the problem with creating playlist - assuming you do that sort of thing. Finally, if you rip the cds you'll always have a backup.

If you have a receiver with HDMI inputs it's simple to hook your pc to your stereo/surround system. And most surround receivers have 5.1 or 7.1 emulation. I always listen to stereo recordings in emulated mode and it sounds 10x better, to me at least, than straight stereo. It's a significant investment in time, but just start with a couple dozen recordings you listen to most and see if it's worth it to you.

 

[Muse]

Good new indeed! Good job! Wondering if there is a sub-model number on a label somewhere.

I remember wanting those around that time, but man that was a lot of money! I "settled" for a 5-disc changer, which my oldest broke when he was a baby. It would be fun to get in there and fix, but with all my music digitized, I don't see the point.

Yeah, IIRC it was something like $325. First I was going to get a Sony, also 300 CD's I think, but it didn't feature time-remaining on currently playing track, something I required. I'm not sure but I think I returned that and from the same store bought the Pioneer, for a few bucks more.

One of the disks I just tested in the unit wouldn't play (it plays in my other one), but a wipe with rubbing alcohol spritz and napkin got it playing too. Now, I guess I'll figure out the master/slave operations. The seller didn't include the control cables but I think I have them from the other purchase.

Even if I don't like or want the master/slave operation, I'll have a spare machine and remote in case the other breaks.

I wonder about that gizmo that jammed the carousel, it's almost as if that's what it was designed to do, but I have seen no mention of that in the literature or anything I read online.

 

[Muse]

This, shipping lock, something like a carousel isn't going to survive shipping no matter how well packed if it was designed to have the mechanism locked during shipping.

Read the manual and google the error and model number.

Well, I didn't see anything in the manual, service manual or online about it. The carousel won't spin unless tugged at pretty good (jammed or not), it wouldn't spin from shipping jostling. Don't know, maybe the jamming gizmo was triggered by the shipping box being tossed by some bozo en route FL to CA.

Saves you all the hassle of sending it back, and you now get to enjoy the massive 602 capacity music capabilities.

I was NOT looking forward to packing it up. The seller had double boxed it, packed a load of packing peanuts between the boxes, I felt obligated to do the same thing returning it and 1/2 the stuff he used was taped together... I had to cut through all that stuff, I figured I had to start over. I'm about to go to my Ebay account and cancel the return!

Wow!

Congratulations 301 602 times!

...and you now get to enjoy the massive 602 capacity music capabilities.

I'm still going to investigate moving to FLAC and/or MP3 storage, or Vorbis or something. Maybe in a transitioning way. ~400 disks and counting, it's a lot to convert, seems to me. But if I start little by little and figure it out and maybe get some hardware, bluetooth or wifi to drive my systems I'll like how it's turning out. I had another mini-stereo in my kitchen (a Sony) that had 60 CD capacity. I still have it but it developed a horrible problem, I think it's likely a bad connection somewhere that causes sporadic bigtime noise. I really tried to fix it but gave up. I still have it, hoping I might be able to fix it some day or bring it to someone. Anyway, a better idea is probably to rip my CDs and stream from my server to the mini-stereo I'm using now in the kitchen, which has only 5 CD capacity... the horror!

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Yay! I fixed it!

I was about to give up, had both units, the one I've had since Jan. 2, 2000 (that works) and the non-working one, side by side on my outdoors patio table in the sun, covers off.

I combed the service manual, got a chocolate fix, a cup of coffee.

I had determined where the gears are that run the carousel. Everything looked the same in both units. A 1/2 hour ago or so I discovered that I could turn the carousel in the good one by hand, which turned the gears. Something was preventing the carousel in the other one from turning. It was just jammed tight. I had my every-day-carry mini-flashlight on the highest setting looking everywhere. Finally I determined that something was catching the carousel, keeping it from turning. I'd shaken the unit, turned it upside down, nothing seemed loose in there. Then, 5 minutes ago, I detect that something was jammed into the carousel from the perimeter, almost as if it were designed to do so. I hadn't been able to find anything for "lock" in the service manual, i.e. a mechanism to lock the carousel into place. However, a poke with a long thin screwdriver got the offending gizmo to snap back into place away from the carousel, it appears to work now!!!

I did not expect to be able to fix this thing. I'll make sure it's working before sending the good news to the seller. His response today was to gladly accept the return. I'm going to test it now with some disks, play some music :whiste:

Funny, there's a slight difference between these. The one I bought Jan. 2, 2000 has a front panel jog wheel that's relatively stiff, far stiffer than the one I got from this guy in Florida. Mine rotates the carousel when the door isn't open, his doesn't. Not important differences, I figured maybe firmware on the non-rotation with door closed thing. Otherwise I see absolutely no difference between the two machines. Both say on the back that they were manufactured in September 1998.

Seller needs to send you $15-$20 tip just for not giving up and forcing him to do all the costs of returning like 99.999% of ebay buyers will do. They are always too stupid to look inside, even shake it, clean it, or wipe it off.

That's a lot of hassle you helped avoid him by giving up your time.

 

[disappoint]

Does this mean you won't be joining the FLAC master race?

 

[Ketchup]

Seller needs to send you $15-$20 tip just for not giving up and forcing him to do all the costs of returning like 99.999% of ebay buyers will do. They are always too stupid to look inside, even shake it, clean it, or wipe it off.

That's a lot of hassle you helped avoid him by giving up your time.

I think the thread and emails took more effort than the actual fix, not knocking the op's ability to do so.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

I was NOT looking forward to packing it up. The seller had double boxed it, packed a load of packing peanuts between the boxes, I felt obligated to do the same thing returning it and 1/2 the stuff he used was taped together... I had to cut through all that stuff, I figured I had to start over.

I find (partly because I am a bit of a perfectionist, once I start doing something like that) that it takes ages to pack things up, and take them to the post office. There can be queues at the post office, as well.

When I sent my (computer related) parcel back. I felt guilty/sorry for the guy (seller), even though I was 100% in the right (human nature, I guess).
So that is another advantage, to what you have just done.

I'm still going to investigate moving to FLAC and/or MP3 storage, or Vorbis or something. Maybe in a transitioning way. ~400 disks and counting, it's a lot to convert, seems to me. But if I start little by little and figure it out and maybe get some hardware, bluetooth or wifi to drive my systems I'll like how it's turning out. I had another mini-stereo in my kitchen (a Sony) that had 60 CD capacity. I still have it but it developed a horrible problem, I think it's likely a bad connection somewhere that causes sporadic bigtime noise. I really tried to fix it but gave up. I still have it, hoping I might be able to fix it some day or bring it to someone. Anyway, a better idea is probably to rip my CDs and stream from my server to the mini-stereo I'm using now in the kitchen, which has only 5 CD capacity... the horror!

The pace of technology is crazy. A CD (data) 640 Mb, use to be a huge amount of storage capability. Nowadays you can fit a huge number onto a hard disk.

So yes, putting it on your home server and/or PC etc, is probably the way to go.

Because I come from an older generation. I would still be considerably happier, paying £8/$12 for a music CD (or set), rather than for a download of MP3's (or a different format).

I find it funny, how people still say they are going to "video" their favorite show, tonight. When VCRs are somewhat obsolete.

 

[Ichinisan]

I find (partly because I am a bit of a perfectionist, once I start doing something like that) that it takes ages to pack things up, and take them to the post office. There can be queues at the post office, as well.

When I sent my (computer related) parcel back. I felt guilty/sorry for the guy (seller), even though I was 100% in the right (human nature, I guess).
So that is another advantage, to what you have just done.



The pace of technology is crazy. A CD (data) 640 Mb, use to be a huge amount of storage capability. Nowadays you can fit a huge number onto a hard disk.

So yes, putting it on your home server and/or PC etc, is probably the way to go.

Because I come from an older generation. I would still be considerably happier, paying £8/$12 for a music CD (or set), rather than for a download of MP3's (or a different format).

I find it funny, how people still say they are going to "video" their favorite show, tonight. When VCRs are somewhat obsolete.

Here, it's: "I'm gonna tape that show tonight."

 

[Muse]

That's great to hear but you should really think about ripping those CDs. There's always the chance that one of your carousels will malfunction and that would really suck.

Plus there's the delay in loading a cd to the reader, although I'm guessing your unit is fairly quick. There's also the problem with creating playlist - assuming you do that sort of thing. Finally, if you rip the cds you'll always have a backup.

If you have a receiver with HDMI inputs it's simple to hook your pc to your stereo/surround system. And most surround receivers have 5.1 or 7.1 emulation. I always listen to stereo recordings in emulated mode and it sounds 10x better, to me at least, than straight stereo. It's a significant investment in time, but just start with a couple dozen recordings you listen to most and see if it's worth it to you.

Yes, I know I should definitely think about ripping those CDs. And yes, your admonition about a backup is very spot on. For one thing, hey, I live in earthquake country in Berkeley and my house isn't very earthquake proof. In 1/2 hour's time, it could be rubble and/or burned to the ground in the event of the big one and there's a good chance my CD collection would be but a memory! If I rip them all I can have offsite storage, a HD in a safe deposit box and I'd expect that to survive just about any kind of catastrophe. I have another off site location locally, too, a locker in a fairly secure location, where I typically store a HD.

As well, the big knock on this player is that although it has a lot of functions in terms of groups, favorites and such it has a nasty habit of forgetting. Yes, it routinely and without warning develops a case of permanent amnesia and you have to start over. For that reason, I've never used most of those functions and long ago stopped inputting artist and title info (with the remote, no less, it doesn't support keyboard input).

I don't have a single receiver with HDMI input, but I can get one or more for sure. I have a couple of receivers that predate HDMI and even DVI!

What you're doing with 5.1 and 7.1 for playing stereo, I've no experience with, however in my bedroom I have a system whereby I get something like 2+2. It's stereo speakers in a customary type setup and I route the line outputs from the receiver into a small stereo amp, 25watt Lepai T Class, which I have wired to a couple of Radio Shack small speakers that flank me left and right. I know that sounds complicated. I used to send the B outputs of the receiver to the outlier speakers but the receiver is underpowered and just can't properly drive 4 speakers. The effect now is a lot nicer than plain stereo. It requires using two separate volume controls, but it sounds nice.

I'm going to start working on ripping CDs and see where it goes. After all, those 301 CD players are limited to one room, at least the way I expect to have them set up initially.

 

[Muse]

Seller needs to send you $15-$20 tip just for not giving up and forcing him to do all the costs of returning like 99.999% of ebay buyers will do. They are always too stupid to look inside, even shake it, clean it, or wipe it off.

That's a lot of hassle you helped avoid him by giving up your time.

Yeah, you're right, I spent hours and the worst of it was until my final breakthrough I felt like I must be just wasting my time. He did clean up the machine nicely before sending it to me, however, that was exemplary. I don't know if it was working when he sent it to me, I'm just in the dark on that one. I quoted everything he said in this thread. It seems he was noncommittal, or maybe just not too smart.

Does this mean you won't be joining the FLAC master race?

Is that like Planet of the Apes? I saw the original, none of the sequels.

I think the thread and emails took more effort than the actual fix, not knocking the op's ability to do so.

Oh, you're right, I can be damn slow. I've had conversations that took me 50 years to realize what I should have said!

Here, it's: "I'm gonna tape that show tonight."

I try to say "I'm going to record it," or "DVR it."

 

[bruceb]

Glad you were able to fix it.

 

[Muse]

Glad you were able to fix it.

I have a motto as a fixit man: "If I cain't fix it, it ain't broke."

Yeah, I've had my failures. I still have that mini-stereo Sony (60CD carousel), that has a short or something, but I haven't given up, it's just set aside for now. :twisted:

 

[Ichinisan]

As well, the big knock on this player is that although it has a lot of functions in terms of groups, favorites and such it has a nasty habit of forgetting. Yes, it routinely and without warning develops a case of permanent amnesia and you have to start over. For that reason, I've never used most of those functions and long ago stopped inputting artist and title info (with the remote, no less, it doesn't support keyboard input).

I spent hours entering channel names on my old Sony HDTV before I realized it was only storing the last 10 or so and wiping-out the older ones. I was furious because I wasted sooo much time on it.

What is the point of allowing me to label channels if it only remembers ~10 channels?! It wouldn't make sense to label only my 10 favorite channels, because those are the ones I'm more likely to remember anyway. Labels would be most helpful for the dozens of less-frequently-used channels. Grr...

 

[Muse]

So, my birthday was Sunday and in anticipation I couldn't resist buying another of these Pioneer 301 disk players off ebay. I snagged one even cheaper than the other.

Original listing

The listing shows the manual, but it didn't come with a remote. For the life of me I can't understand why most of these are offered without a remote! How in the world do these people lose the remotes? I have the remote of every electronic item I've ever bought. If I don't use them, I keep them in a drawer. Sheesh!

Well, this thing comes today. As shown in the listing, they had the original box and packing, obviously a really good sign. I was shocked to find that USPS (standard shipping from Virginia) had managed to puncture the box, it looked as though an object as big around as a broom handle had been thrust into the box and in fact, when I got the player out it had sustained a dent in the cover! Not good.

I unboxed it, and saw it wasn't nearly as clean as the last one. Dust, etc. No biggie, I figure. I plug it in and it doesn't do what the last one did, it behaves as expected when turning it on. I'm stoked, guess I'm in the clear. Then I put a disk in and hit play and it says "No Disk." Uh, oh! I try a few more disks and some play, but as often it says "No Disk." Bummer. But I had a couple of optical drive lens cleaning disks from a former problem. I ran them both, 6 total runs and now it plays every disk. I cleaned it up supremely and it sits in its appointed place, this time in my kitchen.

I still plan to rip (likely to FLAC) like you guys say, it's the only way I can guard against a fire or earthquake or both depriving me of my music. They could kill me, but they won't take away my music!